The Princeton Review has ranked Brown students the happiest in America for the past two years, and there are no signs this reputation for bliss is amiss. According to last month's Herald poll, 72 percent of students are very happy with their Brown experience. Twenty-four percent said they were somewhat happy, and the remaining 4 percent were roughly split between very or somewhat unhappy and neither happy nor unhappy.
"I really love it," said Alessandra Frank '13, adding that she is "beyond satisfied — thrilled" with her undergraduate experience.
Brown "has made me the person I didn't even know I wanted to be," said Eric Hubble '11.
According to results from a separate question on the Herald poll, a vast majority of students — 84 percent — said they had not thought seriously about transferring from Brown at all. Twelve percent indicated they had thought somewhat seriously about transferring, and 4 percent replied they had thought very seriously about the prospect.
Kyle Werner, a former member of Brown's class of 2013, transferred to Bowdoin College last year. He called Brown "extremely cliquey."
"I had kind of two groups of friends, and I was really tight with them," he said. "But outside of that, I felt like a lot of the time, you'd talk to the people and they didn't seem as interested in being friendly or open with you if they didn't already know you."
Despite the social situation, Werner said he enjoyed being around so many intelligent people at Brown. "You could have great conversations all the time," he said.
But Michael Pico '13 said he has never considered transferring and has always considered Brown the best fit for him.
"I really like the freedom here," Pico said. "You're free to choose what you want to study, and there are a lot of opportunities out of the classroom," he added.
Pico said he enjoys the people here because they are laid back, friendly, fun and interesting.
"There are many diverse perspectives," he said.
India Eaford '13 also cited Brown's diversity as part of her happiness on campus and said she enjoyed "meeting new people who have different experiences."
Allen Ward, senior associate dean of student life, said he was pleased to hear the vast majority of students at Brown are happy with their undergraduate experience. "Our goal is to help students whenever they need it in whatever way we can," Ward said.
— With additional reporting by Mark Raymond
